


breathe me

by halcyon_calamity



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drabble Collection, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-24
Updated: 2013-05-24
Packaged: 2017-12-12 21:37:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/816319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halcyon_calamity/pseuds/halcyon_calamity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>30 prompts for sasuke&sakura. 01. silk: Uchiha Shogunate AU. - Never before and never again would she be able to wear the soft eggshell white of her bridal kimono, and yet all she wanted to do was scrunch the smooth silk in her hands and leave a million little creases. Yes, it was beautiful with its impeccable embroidery - there could be nothing less, for the prized daughter of the emperor - but the cloth, gliding over her narrow shoulders like the gentlest of waterfalls, only felt cold against her skin. -</p>
            </blockquote>





	breathe me

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: 026. silk  
> notes: found a random prompts list online. this was first published on ffnet, and was a collaboration with MoonNightmare on that site.  
> verse: AU, Uchiha Shogunate. Yes, Sakura's the emperor's daughter and a subordinate to Sasuke. Go google Tokugawa/Edo Period. Also, look up the story of Princess Kazu, which was one of the inspirations for this drabble.  
> disclaimer: pft. i wish.

The sudden urge to twist the fabric of her  _shiromuku_  was difficult to reign in. Never before and never again would she be able to wear the soft eggshell white of her bridal kimono, and yet all she wanted to do was scrunch the smooth silk in her hands and leave a million little creases. Yes, it was beautiful with its impeccable embroidery - there could be nothing less, for the prized daughter of the emperor - but the cloth, gliding over her narrow shoulders like the gentlest of waterfalls, only felt cold against her skin.

The unexpected death of the firstborn son of the shogun had only made it clearer to Shogun Fugaku that a reconciliation between the shogunate and the imperial court was necessary. Now the pressing issue of finding his younger son a suitable bride was resolved, as well.

The shogunate had threatened her father with almost everything - a forced abdication on his part, and a sentence to a nunnery for the rest of her life. So she had left Kyoto and everything she had known behind.

She would do it to save them all.

\- : -

Now changed into the elaborate  _uchikake_  for the wedding reception, Sakura quietly sat next to her new husband, gracefully taking small bites to eat as she had been trained to do when she was young. Her father, dressed in his elaborate formal robes, was talking stiffly to her now father-in-law. Although her father was the one dressed in the rich golden fabric, everyone around them knew who really held the power between the two of them. This new union between the shogunate and the imperial line would not last long, Sakura had realized. She was only the pig for slaughter, the unnecessary sacrifice, dressed in the finest of silks. She fingered the embroidered cherry blossoms and gold leaves of her kimono lightly, soothed in the way it slid effortlessly against her skin.

"You are anxious."

They were the first words her husband had said to her, aside from his requisite vows. She looked up at him, quickly dropping her hands to her sides, before looking down as a sign of respect, as she had always been taught.

She had been trained to be the perfect wife, but not of the next shogun.

Not of Uchiha Sasuke.

"Of course not," she replied softly, her gaze still cast downward. "I am most pleased and excited. It is, after all, the only wedding I will ever have." She let the last part slip out carelessly, but she felt she could afford this one moment of insolence.

"Hn." Sasuke stared at her for a few long moments, but did not continue to speak.

Sakura was bewildered. She had been taught, after all, that the first and most important duty of a wife was to provide everything for her husband. Was he expecting her to start the conversation?

"How... old are you?"

He looked at her with those piercing onyx eyes of his for a few seconds before deigning to answer. "Nineteen."

"Oh." He was so  _young_ , she couldn't help but think. Most men married around thirty or forty years of age. She had known, of course, that he would be younger than most, but she realized now that he was only two years older than her.

She expected him to ask her the same question, but she supposed that he already knew. After all, Uchiha Sasuke had a reputation for being immaculate in everything he did. He had already earned a name for himself on the battlefield and, although not being the next in line until recently, was known for his intelligence. Yes, he would have learned about her first before marrying her, Sakura decided. Maybe she should have done the same.

Her hands went back to the kimono.

\- : -

Sakura sat quietly in the bedroom, her hands grasping fistfuls of the _uchikake_ that she still wore. It would not matter now, she had decided when she had first been brought to the room, if there were wrinkles in the fabric; it would soon be on the ground, anyway.

She would not lie; the wedding night was the greatest of her fears.

Growing up without a mother, Sakura knew little of what to expect, even if she sometimes overheard the gossiping of the palace maids. And if her duty was to provide for her husband, then how would he react when knew that she would be unable to do so?

The quiet sliding of the shoji door startled her as she quickly hid her hands behind her back. Sasuke entered the room stealthily, his footsteps silent. This is a man of war, Sakura knew.

_Predator._

She stilled, unsure of what to do, and looked to him.

Unhesitatingly, he pulled his haori off.

Inwardly, Sakura began to panic. Should she start shedding clothes too? Or wait for him to give her some sort of signal?

"You are nervous," he stated bluntly. Sakura flinched.

"I'm just - I am not suitable to be your wife, I feel."  _Lie._  Their union was being celebrated across the country as the best match in centuries. "I - This is -"

"No," he corrected. Gently, he lifted her chin so she that she would look him directly in the eyes.

_"I chose you."_

**Author's Note:**

> research: shiromuku is a white or off-white kimono worn for the wedding ceremony, usually embroidered with flowers or the like. uchikake are elaborate, colorful, and are often full of auspicious symbols (like cranes for long life); they are worn for the wedding reception. There is often silver and gold metallic stitching. They are cut very long and not worn with an obi, but are rather left open and trailing.  
> The groom's traditional attire consists of a black kimono, a black jacket, haori, with five crests, and a gray hakama.
> 
> If you'd like to see more of this verse, don't hesitate to make it known.


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